ABSTRACT

In numerous ways and from varied directions, literature serves as an imperfect mirror of life in its broadest sense. This chapter investigates the reactions in the Jewish community in Eretz Yisrael to Franz Werfel's The Forty Days of Musa Dagh. This epic work, which tells the story of the annihilation of the Armenian People and the most heroic chapter in its history, first appeared in 1933 and was translated into Hebrew a year later. The chapter explores the manner in which the Armenian tragedy was treated in original literary works. The reports of the Armenian massacre appear in the novel again, in the beginning of the second volume, The Last Ships. In contrast, the Armenian tragedy stands at the center of Bass' Ara, in the figure of the Armenian girl, Ara. Literary critics and commentators have identified some of the main characters in the novel as figures who became, over time, leaders and prominent personalities in the Yishuv.